


Sour and Sweet - like the Future.

by zimnokurw



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Maria Stark, Genius Tony Stark, Howard Stark isn't an absolute asshole, Iron Man 2, Maria Stark's Good Parenting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, and later probably more, he just doesn't really know HOW to parent, reaction to mcu, stark family watches tony's future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:28:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29022738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zimnokurw/pseuds/zimnokurw
Summary: The Stark family reacts to Tony's future.
Relationships: +relationships canon in mcu, Howard Stark & Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Howard Stark & Tony Stark, Howard Stark/Maria Stark, Maria Stark & Tony Stark
Comments: 13
Kudos: 101





	1. the introduction

**Author's Note:**

> i was looking for howard and/or maria watching iron man movies fanfic and didn't find any so naturally, i had to write one of my own. (but if you've seen that kinda fic before send me a link and i'll still read it im sure)
> 
> this will start with the stark family(with a teen-tony) watching iron man 2 and then possibly also other tony-moments throughout his future

When Tony first slowly opened his eyes, he suspected he had a hangover but noticing that he’s not in his MIT dorm room, he suddenly remembers that he was only getting ready to go to that party. He remembers choosing between two shirts to the sound of Rhodey convincing him that maybe they should skip that one _social gathering._

That’s when Tony notices that his parents are present, just coming to, and he lets them wake up in peace as he looks around the room.

His first thought is that they were kidnapped but when he sees the room they are in, he dismisses that thought quickly. The room isn’t big but it isn’t small either, it has two comfortable-looking couches turned towards a bare wall where he kinda expects to see a TV because that reminds him of the theater room they have in Stark Mansion, except this one looks more modest. And there actually isn’t any TV hanging on the wall where it would be expected. The room also doesn’t have any windows but it’s as light as if the sun was shining and coming through the non-existent curtains.

“Anthony!” he hears his father and _here it comes._ “What are you doing here?”

“That’s a great question!” he answers, looking at his father with a smile but makes sure that it’s visibly fake. “I was supposed to be getting drunk right now.” he groans to himself.

But before his father can get red as a tomato and yell at him, his mom speaks up. “Dear, are you alright?” she asks, scanning him but looking at their surroundings as well.

“I’m fine, mom.” he smiles genuinely looking at the woman. “When I woke up I thought I’m in the movie theater but then I noticed him.” Tony nods to his father. “And I know I’ll be dead before he ever takes me to watch a movie with him.” 

“Anthony, can you–“ his father starts with a sharp voice.

“Oh god, did I die?” he asks, and noticing that it made his mom pale, he punches himself in his mind. 

“Hello, Starks.” sounds a voice from everywhere and nowhere. 

“Who are you?!” his father yells, looking around.

“I am the Watcher, and I’ve gathered you here today to show you your future.” the voice sounds weirdly divine, considering Tony never actually listened to anything divine (if you insist on not counting Black Sabbath and AC/DC).

“Sure, give me a tarot reading,” Tony answers half-interested and sees that the corner of his mom’s lips goes up in a silent smile.

“What do you mean, ‘ _your future’_?” his father asks, only shooting him a glare but ignoring him otherwise. Why is his father so chill about some possibly-divine creature showing them their future? What the fuck?

“Space, time, reality - it’s more than a linear path, it’s a prism of endless possibility.” sounds from the ceiling and the walls and from directly behind Tony as well.

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Tony almost jumps in excitement. “What about the Multiverse? 'Cause I thought that was just theoretical. That completely changes how we understand the initial singularity. We're talking about an eternal inflation system and how does that even work with all the quantum--? It's insane--“ he cuts himself off when he notices his father’s glare because he really doesn’t feel like an argument right now. 

“Never stop being curious.” the voice tells him. And if that doesn’t sound at least slightly ominous.

“Howard, why doesn’t the prospect of watching the future worry you?” Maria speaks up.

“I’ve worked on the Zero Matter, Maria. There isn’t much that can surprise me,” he answers and Tony’s eyes narrow but he decides to stay silent. 

“I will not harm you.” the voice, or rather _the Watcher_ as they introduced themselves answers. And weirdly, Tony believes in those words. “I simply need you to watch this future, because my plan requires that you know it, for me to create a new timeline.” the voice ends, and across from the two couches, where Tony expected to find a TV before, something light up, as if there was a screen this entire time. 

“All right, let’s sit down and get this over with,” Howard says, gesturing for his wife to take a seat on one of the couches but Tony can see the excitement in his eyes. He can’t blame the man, they are going to watch the future! Tony’s excited too, that’s why he almost jumps on the couch on the left and lies down on it, taking up the entire space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the excited gushing abt the multiverse i stole from peter from ffh bcos like father like son


	2. vanko arc reactor

The screen that wasn’t there a minute ago lights up in dark color but some sounds start so all three Starks listen carefully.

**(V.O.): “Been a while since I was up here in front of you. Maybe I’ll do us all a favor and just stick to the cards. There’s been some speculation that I was somehow involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and on the rooftop…”**

“Wait, is that my voice?” Tony narrows his eyes. “I really sound old.”

**Woman’s voice (V.O.): “Sorry, Mr. Stark, do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared despite the fact that you sorely despise bodyguards?”**

**Tony (V.O.): “Yes.”**

“Can we get some context here?” Tony looks at the ceiling, but the Watcher stays quiet. 

“Be patient, dear.” his mother answers then instead.

**Woman’s voice (V.O.): “And this mysterious bodyguard was somehow equipped with an undisclosed Stark high-tech powered battle…”**

**The city, Moscow, appears on the screen, finally something to look at instead of just black.**

**Tony (V.O.): “I know that it’s confusing. It is one thing to question the official story and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I’m a superhero.”**

“A superhero?” Howard snorts. 

**Inside a darkened apartment within a dilapidated building, older-Tony Stark’s face appears on TV. “I mean, let’s face it, I’m not the heroic type.”**

“I’d say,” Tony muttered.

“Oh, you look so grown up.” Maria smiles. 

“Is that supposed to be the future? We have more futuristic TVs now.” Howard sounds disappointed. 

“Maybe it’s a Russian thing.” Tony shrugs, but he also feels disappointed. He wants to see some real tech, please.

**Tony (on TV): “A laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I’ve made, largely public.”**

**Tony (on TV): “The truth is… I am Iron Man.”**

“What the hell is Iron Man though?” Tony frowns. 

**The camera pans back to an older man lying on his back in bed. As Tony declares himself Iron Man, the man calls for Ivan. Said Ivan leans against the front door, bottle in his left hand. He turns as the older man coughs. Ivan is middle-aged, hair past his chin and a beard and mustache decorated his face.**

“Who is that?” Tony wonders, but he only murmurs it, more to himself than anything else.

“Howard? Do you know this man?” Tony hears his mom and lifts his head up to look at his parents. Howard, in fact, looks a little guilty and a little like he just sees a ghost.

“Anton Vanko. I’ve... worked with him.” Howard answers. “But he wasn’t a good man, so we parted ways.” 

Tony shrugs then and lies back down, but he can’t shake off the feeling that they see the man right now for a reason, and that the reason must not be good.

**Ivan approaches the bed. The man - his father - struggling to breathe begins speaking in Russian, but on the screen, translation appears for the three Starks.**

**Anton Vanko [Russian]: “Ivan. Vanya. That should be you.”**

**Ivan Vanko [Russian]: “Don’t listen to that crap.”**

**Anton Vanko [Russian]: “I’m sorry. All I can give you is my knowledge.”**

“You didn’t agree to work together on something and then he ended up like that?” Maria accuses her husband.

“He wanted to sell plans to-- He wanted to profit, to make bad deals. He was deported for that, I didn’t know what happened with him later.” Howard answers defensively, but there’s slight regret in his voice too, probably because he sees how bad the man and his son are living.

**Anton coughs again and that’s his last breath. Ivan is naturally distraught. Takes a swig of vodka as tears fall down his face. Then, the man pulls out some blueprints, looking very determined. The blueprints are for an Arc Reactor, and the project designers are listed as Howard Stark and Anton Vanko. Next is a montage of the man building something with quite standard-looking engineering equipment.** **As Vanko begins to cut through metal with sparks flying left and right, the camera pans over a wall of news articles about Tony Stark throughout his life, following him from his MIT years until his latest announcement of 'I am Iron Man'.**

“Oh no, please tell me he won’t...” Maria starts but then lies a hand over her mouth instead of finishing her sentence. Tony agrees, it seems like the guy plans his assassination or something.

“Why is he obsessed with me? I wasn’t the one who destroyed his father’s life!” Tony throws his hands up in the air. 

Howard just looks guilty and worried but stays silent. 

“And can someone finally explain what’s up with this Iron Man thing and why it’s such a big deal?”

“All in its time, Tony.” the Watcher finally speaks up, and Tony scoffs.

**Ivan takes the heated piece to the table and starts to hammer it, the noise continuing as the camera pans over the blueprints.**

**Sitting at a desk, and surrounded by dozens of ancient computers all running coding at once, Vanko fiddles with wiring as a white bird hops within the workspace. More shots of the Arc Reactor on magazine covers appear, followed by Vanko feeding his bird from a glass.**

“Hi, birdie.” 

“He’s building the Arc Reactor,” Howard says to himself and his voice shudders slightly which actually fucking worries Tony now.

“That’s bad, right?” Tony lifts his body again, supporting himself on his elbows. “So we’ll be watching my assassination?” 

“Don’t even think like that, dear.” his mom is quick to answer. “I will personally kick him into prison if he so much as touches a hair on your head.”

**Vanko flicks a switch and the lights go out as the Reactor lits up. Vanko's smile of triumph gleams in its light. He laughs in glee as he lifts up the completed Arc Reactor.**

“Well, now we’re fucked Tony.” the sixteen-year-old says to his future self, but keeps his voice low not to worry his mother any more than she already is. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wtf whats iron man and why is it such a big deal


	3. stark expo

**The screen goes dark once again but a male voice can be heard. “270 at 30 knots. Holding steady at 15000 feet. You are clear for exfiltration over the drop zone.”** **_(ACDC’s Shoot to Thrill starts to play)_ **

“That’s the music!” Tony perks up on his couch. 

**The words** **_6 months later_ ** **appear on the black screen. And t** **he back of some high-tech suit is seen as the hatch of the bottom of an airplane opens up.**

“What is that?” Howard asks intrigued while he leans in, trying to get closer to the screen. 

**Far below is a sprawling mess of lights and fireworks as the suit leaps out of the plane, falling briefly through the air before engaging his thrusters and flying down into an arena below.**

“It flies!” 

“Please tell me this isn’t Vanko,” Tony murmurs while also admiring the invention but doing it quietly. 

“Isn’t that the Iron Man?” Maria asks, as always the only person in the family to have some working brain cells and Tony decides to wait and see if this actually could be him.

**Said suit flies down right onto the stage, landing in a pose that probably could be described as his signature pose, with dancing girls in scantily-clad dresses behind him.**

“That looks nice.” Tony tilts his head.

“Reminds me of my Expo back in the day,” adds Howard.

**The crowd goes wild as the girls dance. Then it shows the place but from a distance and the caption 'STARK EXPO – FLUSHING, NEW YORK' appears.**

“Huh.”

**The girls step back on the stage, as the area where the suit stands begins to rise and robotic arms begin to quickly dismantle the suit.**

“Oh, that looks great.” Howard shakes his head, as he watches, eyes glued to the screen not to miss anything.

**His helmet is one of the first pieces to be removed and Tony Stark breaks out into a wide grin as he looks out upon his adoring crowd.**

“Well, that’s nice.” Tony on the couch breathes out. And then he realizes that his father just gave him his first compliment. Not realizing it was a compliment for Tony but hey. 

“Talk about a dramatic entrance, dear.” his mom laughs softly. 

**The girls continue to dance as the suit is removed from Tony's body, revealing him to be dressed in an elegant suit. Once free, he bows to the audience, arms spread out wide.**

“Wait, so I must’ve built an Arc Reactor too?” Tony narrows his eyes because the suit had something glowing in the middle of its’ chest. “Why didn’t we see that?” he looks at the ceiling.

**The stage rotates Tony around, as he points out into the audience. The music continues and the girls finish their dance by walking closer to him and facing their palms to him in the gesture he used as Iron Man. Then the dancers walk off the stage as Tony claps. “Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!” the crowd cheers his name.**

**Tony: “It’s good to be back. Did you miss me?**

**Man in crowd: "Blow something up!"**

**Tony: "I missed you too. Blow something up? I already did that."**

Maria shakes her head fondly as she watched her son.

**He pauses briefly before speaking again. “I’m not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me.”**

“Not saying it’s not true but what exactly did I do?”

**“I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history.” He says as he bows his head down.**

“Captivity?” Maria asks, sounding worried.

“Yea, ya know, living with Howard Stark,” Tony answers nonchalantly.

Howard shoots him a glare but surprisingly doesn’t respond to that accusation by yelling. “It doesn’t sound like that’s what the future-you means,” he says instead, and, does he sound just a tiny little bit worried?

**Tony: “I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone who’s man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day.”**

“Pretty sure I just jinxed it.”

**People in the crowd cheer him on, and one voice sounds the loudest. “I love you, Tony!”**

**He turns his head away, waving his hand in her direction. “Please, it’s not about me.”**

“Coulda fooled me.” Howard’s voice sounds.

**The cheering continued. “It’s not about you. It’s not even about us. [** ** _the crowd quiets down to listen better_** **]** **It’s about legacy.”**

“That’s very smart, dear.” Maria smiles.

**Tony: “It’s about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. And that’s why for the next year and for the first time since 1974, the best and brightest men and women of nations and corporations the world over will pool their resources, share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future.”**

“That sounds interesting,” Howard says and Tony has trouble believing that the man sitting there really is his father. 

**Tony: “It’s not about us. Therefore, what I am saying if I’m saying anything, is welcome back to the Stark Expo.”** **_[Tony spreads his arms and gets a big cheer from the crowd.]_ ** **“And now, making a special guest appearance from the great beyond to tell you what it’s all about, please welcome my father, Howard.”**

“The great beyond?” Howard asks quietly, and seeing as the man appears in the form of a video, Tony feels something uncomfortable in his stomach, suggesting that maybe his father died by that time.

**Howard Stark (through a video recording): “Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history,** **_[Howard walks across the room towards a model of the City he’s talking about.]_ ** **the possibility of world peace. So, from all of us here at Stark Industries, I would like to personally introduce you to the City of the Future. Technology holds infinite possibilities for mankind,** **_[While the man keeps talking, Tony is seen doing something backstage. He pulls a small device from his pocket – a Stark Medical Scanner – and tests his blood.]_ **

“Do you have diabetes?” asks worried Maria, because reading your blood sugar levels works that way, by taking a small sample of blood from the tip of your finger.

**It’s a blood toxicity test. And gives out a reading of 19%.**

“So even if the Vanko guy doesn’t kill me, I’m already dying.” Tony cheers, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Is that why we’re watching this?” he asks, looking up to the ceiling once again, but there’s silence so he’s beginning to think that the Watcher is not watching anymore. 

**Tony doesn’t look pleased with the results but glances back at the screen as Howard finishes talking “The Stark Expo. Welcome.” and the crowd erupts into cheers once more.**

“Oh, my dear.” Maria still worries because of the blood test.

“He’s fine darling, he’s right there.” Howard points to where the teenage Tony is laying on the couch.

  
**Howard’s video ends. There's a cut to a news feed of a reporter outside, reporting live and reminding that the Expo will go on all year long, and she will be there, checking everything out.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh its nothing, im just dying from palladium poisoning


	4. senate hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "TB:" will mean The Bodyguard aka Happy but they don't know that's his name yet

**Now, a man in a professional-looking black suit is visible directly from someone’s perspective. He looks like a bodyguard. “All right, it’s a zoo out there, watch out.”**

**“All right.” sounds a quick answer in Tony’s voice, which means it’s a video from his perspective and the man is his bodyguard.**

**“Open up, let’s go.” the bodyguard says to someone opening the door.**

**They walk through a crowd of cheering fans; “Nice to see you.” Tony greets them as they pass, some even attempting to pass him their number. He signs a few Iron Man photos.**

**Tony:** **_[what would be ruffling the hair of a small boy if said small boy were not wearing an Iron Man helmet making hair unreachable]_ ** **See you, buddy.**

“That’s so sweet.” Maria comments on the situation.

**The bodyguard introduces him to a man named Larry, who wants Tony to call him. They walk through more people, greeting them cheerfully, and then finally reaching the exit. “That wasn’t so bad.”**

**Tony:** **“No, it was perfect.”**

“Looks exhausting.” the Tony laying on the couch counter-comments.

“Those people seem pushier than in today’s times.” Howard answers.

**TB: “Look what we got here, the new model.” The bodyguard points at a new white car, quite sport-looking, standing in the center between several Stark Expo pillars.** **A woman leans against the car, wearing a knee-length skirt and a blouse, with her hair trailing down her shoulders.**

**Tony: “Hey, does she come with the car?”**

**TB: “I certainly hope so. Hi.”**

“Dear, that is inappropriate.” his mom scolds him.

“Sorry.”

**Tony: “Hi. And you are?” She walks forward as they approached, a piece of paper in her hand, and she shakes Tony's hand.**

**“Marshal.”**

**“Irish. I like it.”**

**“Pleased to meet you, Tony.”**

**“I’m on the wheel. Do you mind?” Tony asks his bodyguard while the roof of the car opens and begins hiding away.**

“That’s a nice car,” says Howard.

**Tony: “Where you from?”**

**Marshal: “Bedford.”**

**“What are you doing here?”**

**“Looking for you.”**

“Oh, please no,” Maria says quietly, seeing as her son is flirting with the woman is enough. She doesn’t need to see anything more.

**“Yeah? You found me.” He jumps into the driver’s seat of the car. “What are you up to later?”**

**“Serving subpoenas.” She hands him a letter, but Tony doesn’t take it.**

**“Yikes.”**

Maria laughs at the sudden change in the mood while Tony groans. 

**TB:** **_[Reaching over and taking the letter]_ ** **He doesn’t like to be handed things.**

**Tony: Yeah, I have a peeve.**

“Guess it doesn’t get cured then.” 

**Marshal: “You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am.”**

“And the fun is over.”

**At Tony’s request, the woman shows him her badge but he confirms that he still likes it, and then starts the engine. “How far are we from D.C.?” he asks his bodyguard.**

**“D.C.? 250 miles.” The man answers and Tony drives off, tires screeching.**

“Are you really going to drive straight to Washington right now?”

**Image slides over, and it now shows ‘Washington, D.C.’ with those words appearing on the screen. Seems like an early morning.**

“I guess I am.”

**“Mr. Stark, could we pick up now where we left off?” It’s Tony at his hearing, except he’s not paying attention to whoever’s trying to get his attention. “Mr. Stark. Please.” Instead Tony is trying to talk to a strawberry blonde woman sitting behind him in the crowd. Then, someone bangs the gavel, presumably the man talking.**

“Dear, this is really disrespectful.” Maria scolds her son.

“Your mother is right, this is no way to act at your own hearing,” Howard adds.

“This isn’t me! This is a future-me! Yell at the future me!”

**The strawberry blonde woman who seems to have been trying to convince him to turn back to the Senate mouths either “no” or “go”, and Tony turns around. “Yes, dear?” Some people in the crowd quietly laugh at his behavior.**

**“Can I have your attention?”**

**“Absolutely,” Tony confirms, with one arm still over the back of the chair and slightly twisted in his seat.**

**A man whose plate reads “Sen. Stern” appears to be the one talking with Tony.** " **Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"**

**Tony leans into the microphone. "I do not."**

“What weapon?”

**Tony: “Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."**

**Stern: “The Iron Man weapon.”**

“The Iron Man suit is not a weapon you imbecile!” Tony finally sits up from where he was laying down on the couch.

“Dear,” Maria looks at him.

“Sorry, but this man is incredibly annoying.” he defends himself. He's sure if the future-him was here right now, he would agree.

" **My device does not fit that description." Tony answers in a serious voice.**

**“Well… How would you describe it?”**

**“I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator.”**

**“As?” The senator actually looks like he genuinely wants to hear the description.**

**“It’s, a-- uh.” Tony tilts his head. "It's a high-tech prosthesis." the audience laughs. "That is… That is… That's actually the most apt description I can make of it."**

**“It’s a weapon. It’s a weapon, Mr. Stark.” The senator dismisses his answer.**

**“Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen--”**

**Stern speaks over him, interrupting. "My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America."**

“You can just see how fed up I am already, wow.”

**“Well, you can forget it.” Silence falls over the room.**

“You should really speak with more respect to a Senator, Anthony.” Howard turns to look at his son.

“You should really start calling me Tony instead of Anthony.” the teen snaps. He didn’t even fucking do it yet!

**“I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one,” he says dead-serious, and there are sounds of dozens of photos being taken, as well as some flashes from the cameras but Tony seems to be used to it.**

“Tell ‘em.” young Tony cheers on his future sells. 

**“To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in." He doesn’t skip a beat when the audience chuckles. "You can't have it."**

**“Look, I’m no expert--” [Tony cuts off whatever more Stern was about to say]**

**“In prostitution? Of course not. You’re a senator. Come on.”**

“You’d be surprised,” Howard sighs. 

**Tony taps the table, turns around as the crowd laughs again, this time louder, and he holds his left hand up, his fingers forming the sign of peace. The strawberry blonde from before does not look impressed at all. He mouths “no?” and she shakes her head.**

“Why doesn’t she laugh? Come on, that was funny!”

“That was also disrespectful.”

**Stern:** **“I’m no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I’d now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor.”**

“Why isn’t Stark Industries the primary weapons contractor?” Howard narrows his eyes at the man appearing on the screen who must be the said Justin Hammer.

“Maybe the Company changed focus?” Maria offers an explanation.

“Right. A weapon company that doesn’t make weapons.” the man almost snorts, but he has enough of brain left to know that you shouldn’t scoff at Maria Stark.

**Tony looks up at the announcement as Justin Hammer settles at the desk to his left. "Let the record reflect that I observed Mr. Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any** **_actual_ ** **expert will be in attendance."**

**The audience murmurs as Hammer laughs, pulling the speaker towards him, and then walks out in front of the desks to face the audience. "Absolutely. I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony. “**

“I hate this guy already,” Tony announces because why in the hell is that idiot calling him Anthony of all things.

“Me as well,” adds Howard, and Tony almost falls off his couch.

“You don’t hate him, you’re just bitter he’s been introduced as the primary weapons contractor.” Maria lays her palm on her husband’s arm.

“ **You're the wonder boy,” Hammer says and Tony looks away with an annoyed scowl on his face. “Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad.” He points at Tony. “Howard Stark. Really a father to us all,”**

“Really not.” Howard cuts in.

**“and to the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion.”**

“Was?” Maria asks, looking to Howard.

“So I’m dead?” the man also speaks.

Okay, Tony may not be his father’s biggest fan but he doesn’t look that old in this movie for Howard to be dead already? Maybe this Hammer idiot means ‘was’ as in now he is retired. 

**“We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America."**

“That’s a nice speech, too bad a high schooler could say that, not an actual weapons expert? There wasn’t even any expertise in there.” Tony snorts. 

“He looks like he’s in over his head there,” Howard adds and Tony kinda has trouble believing that his father and he are agreeing on something, much less over the hate for a guy none of them even knows yet.

**Tony is slightly shaking his head, his left hand covering his mouth. Hammer sits down while Stern praises him for his words and continues to explain that the committee wants to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber.**

“Rhodey?” Tony perks up.

“Who’s Rhodey?” Howard asks.

“My best friend,” Tony answers, not even looking at his father. He wants to see his best friend grown-up and all and the movie is pausing when they talk which doesn’t give him the opportunity.

“Really nice boy, I’ve met him a couple of times,” Maria adds.

**Tony looks surprised.** **“Rhodey? What?”** **Cameras flash as gentle murmuring echoes through the chamber and Rhodey walks in.**

“Look at Rhodes the Army Man, huh.” Tony smiles, proud of his best friend.

**Tony gets up to greet his friend, telling Rhodey he hadn't expected to see him.** **Rhodey tells him to deal with it and move on. When Tony doesn’t, Rhodey insists to drop it and Tony agrees.**

“Well, that was harsh, platypus.” 

**Stern reveals he has a complete report on the Iron Man weapon which had been compiled by Colonel Rhodes and requests the Colonel to read page 57, paragraph four, for the record. Rhodey doesn’t like that. "You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?"**

“You can’t take away only what you like from a report, it doesn’t work like that,” Howard argues.

**Stern confirms it, so Rhodey continues to speak, further stating his concerns. "It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner."**

“Awh, poor Rhodey, they kinda tricked him there.” Tony shakes his head. 

**Stern attempts to reroute the conversation. "I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So, if you could just read…"**

" **You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final…" Rhodey doesn’t give up as Tony looks on.**

“He’s trying his best but what can he do against a Senator?” Maria shakes her head.

**Stern does not relent. He even looks smug, as if he had just won a verbal battle.**

“Are all people in the future assholes?” Howard asks, surprising Tony. The guy is trying to bury him, Tony expected Howard to just keep cheering him on.

**Rhodey opens the file. "Very well." He starts to read the assigned paragraph. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests." Rhodes doesn’t stop there though and further elaborates: "I did, however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh the liabilities and that it would be in our interest…" Stern keeps interrupting to force the Colonel to stop speaking as Rhodey attempts to explain he'd recommended for Mr. Stark to be folded into the existing chain of command.**

**Tony leans forward. "I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defense if you ask nicely." Laughter echoes around the chamber. "We can amend the hours a little bit."**

“If you will go to a hearing in the future, even more - your own hearing, this is the perfect example of how you shouldn’t be acting,” Maria speaks once again.

“Sorry, mom, will remember.” Tony winces.

**Stern: "I’d like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that’s connected to your report."**

**Rhodey: "I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time."**

**Stern doesn’t seem to care and keeps insisting until he wins.** " **With all due respect, Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful." A flat TV screen to the left shows aerial footage of photos where construction was underway on attempts to remake the Iron Man suit. Rhodey confirms these had been corroborated by their allies and local intelligence on the ground. Meanwhile Tony leans back in his chair, playing with a miniature Stark device in his hands. His thumbs flying over the icons.**

“Wait, is that my cell phone?” Tony leans closer to the screen. “That looks sick.” this thing doesn't even have any buttons to press!

“A see-through and it reacts just to touch?” Howard leans in as well. “That does look impressive.” 

**Tony leans across the table, holding his device up. "Hold on a second buddy. Let me see something here.”** **_[he sets it up to wirelessly connect to the screen with the photos]_ ** “ **Boy, I'm good.”** **_[he congratulates himself as a black box with lines of code and the words WELCOME, MR. STARK appears over the pictures that had been shown earlier.]_ **

“What is it?” Howard asks intrigued. 

**“I commandeered your screens. I need ‘em.”** **_[he presses another icon on the device.]_ ** **“Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on."**

“That’s why the hacking skills are important,” says Tony, lying down on the couch once again. 

“You know how to hack into electronics?” Howard turns to him.

“I’m 16 years old, of course I learned how to hack into a thing or two.” Tony answers.

“Dear, I would just like to remind you that on-screen you are hacking into government files,” Maria adds.

**There’s muttering in the room at Tony's unorthodox actions and Stern’s expression turns uneasy, not knowing what Tony’s doing. "If you'll direct your attention to said screens," says Tony, putting the device back down on the table and moving his fingertips across it. "I believe that's North Korea." He punches an icon. The flatscreen now shows an image of something that looks more like a top-heavy giant beetle than a Suit. There are Korean subtitles all over the picture, but everyone can clearly see the thing stagger forward a couple of steps and then tumble to the ground, where it lays kicking its 'legs' feebly before something explodes and the camera loses focus. Two of the media reporters in the audience spring to their feet and the Congress people groan and look awkward.**

**"Can you--" Senator Stern is leaning forward and pointing. "Can you turn that off - take it off?"**

Tony laughed. “Huh, yeah, that’s very operational.”

“Well, James did say it was premature,” Maria says, chucking. 

**Justin Hammer springs to his feet and scrambles in the direction of the television. "Iran," comments Tony, punching the screen of his little device again. This suit can fly. For all of five seconds before crashing, judging by the smoke, probably on fire. Justin is by the screen, trying to find the off switch.**

**“No grave threat here,” states Tony. “Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game?” There’s in fact a video of Justin Hammer. With a suit that someone else is in. “Justin, you’re on TV. Focus up.”**

“Oh, that excuse of an expert.” voices Howard.

**Onscreen Tony shares a look with the onscreen Rhodey and the Colonel has to hide his growing smile behind his hand.**

“Rhodey knows what’s up!” 

**The Suit's upper half twists jerkily. Then the Suit twists again, and its knees wobble. "Oh, shit - oh, shit!" cries Justin on the screen, skipping backward as the Suit begins to collapse. At that moment Justin manages to unplug the television, the screens going dark. The room rustling with whispers and some laughter. Senator Stern rubs the bridge of his nose in consternation.**

“Oh, that was beautiful.” Tony chuckles, and surprisingly he hears his father laugh as well.

" **Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty.” sums up Tony while Hammer scrambles back to his seat and points that the test pilot survived.**

“Well, that’s a relief.” Maria breathes out. 

It actually is, Tony doesn’t want someone to die just because some idiot attempted to copy his work. 

“And you’re trying to tell me this is the primary weapons contractor?” Howard scoffs. 

**Senator Stern stands up. "I think we're done, is the point that he's making," he says hurriedly.**

“Shocking, they don’t want to embarrass themselves any further,” Howard says quietly. 

**"I don't think there's any reason--"**

" **The point is, you're welcome, I guess," Tony cuts in.**

**"For what?" asks the Senator.**

“Me.” Tony shrugs. 

**"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent," Tony spreads his hands. "It's working. We're safe. America is secure."**

“And are you safe?” asks Maria. 

**Tony's voice is rising. "You want my property? You can't have it!" He brings his hands down on the table with a thud. "But I did you a big favor!" He rises to his feet and turns to look around. "I have successfully privatized world peace." He makes the peace sign with both hands and everyone in the chamber stands up, clapping and talking all at once.**

“That would be considered quite inappropriate.” Howard lectures. 

“Yeah, well, they like it.” Tony gestured towards the screen.

**"What more do you want?" cries Tony above the applause. "For now!” It cuts to Stern’s upset face.**

“Oof, someone’s not happy with me, that’s a surprise.” Tony murmurs.

**“I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns!" He points back to the Congress table.**

“You really can’t say things like that!” Tony’s mom says, sounding scandalized. 

“Playing ball is the only way to make it through,” Howard adds.

**Senator Stern smiles at Tony “F**k you, Mr. Stark. F**k you, buddy."**

“Did he really just swear on national television?” Howard’s eyes widen.

“He said fuck you to me, I can’t believe this.” Tony breathes out.

“Language, dear,” Maria says, sounding quite defeated at this point though.

“I’m just repeating what I heard.” Tony defends himself.

“You heard it beeped out,” Howard argues.

“But I can’t say the word and beep it out at the same time.” 

“Then don’t say it at all.”

“Boys,” Maria speaks in her  _ stop-this-right-now-or-i-will-stop-you _ voice. Naturally, they both listen to the woman and just get back to looking at the screen.

**"We're adjourned - we're adjourned for today," says Stern.**

**"Okay!" answers Tony with a smirk. He bents down to the table where he's been sitting, picking up his sunglasses, and putting them on.**

**"You've been a delight," says the Senator in a voice that indicates that Tony had been just the opposite.**

“Wow, Rhodey’s  _ I’m done with you _ face hasn’t changed. I literally saw the same face an hour ago.” Tony laughs when he catches a glimpse of the older Rhodey on screen.

**The scene changes to a TV screen in Russia, a news channel covering the Senate Committee, Tony is now walking down the center aisle toward the camera."My bond is with the people.” he says, though Russian translation can be heard. “And I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself** **_."_ ** **Tony whips his glasses off and moves out of the camera.**

“That sounds very wrong, dear.” Maria shakes her head.

“Hey, it’s human,” he argues.

**Vanko sits at a desk, twists a switch and electricity runs up and down long whips he'd created. Then the scene changes to Vanko wearing a contraption, not a full suit, rather a chest piece that helps power the whips. He approaches the wall which holds many articles on Tony Stark before he cuts his ancient TV in half.**

“Okay, buddy. You don’t like me, we get it.” Tony swallows.

“Why do we have to see this man?” Maria asks, the scene understandably making her uncomfortable. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everybody please be chill until further notice


	5. you do it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "it is so much easier not to do things than to do them" tony, in his best john mulaney voice

**The screen pans across the ocean, heading towards a beautiful mansion with the words 'MALIBU, CALIFORNIA' appearing.**

“It’s a nice house, please tell me it’s my future house.” Tony tilts his head, interested.

“Oh, imagine the view you’d be waking up to.” Maria smiles at him.

**Then, inside what looks like his workshop, Tony sits at his desk and claps his hands. The Clash's** **_Should I Stay or Should I Go_ ** **begins to play as blue holograms light up the air over the desk and the rest of the space. "Wake up, Daddy's home," says Tony, snapping his fingers in front of four holographic desktops.**

“Whoa.” Tony breathes out.

“This is an amazing workshop.” Howard points out, probably too lost to realize that it’s his son’s because obviously, he wouldn’t compliment it then.

Maria just laughs at the boys admiring the technology. 

**"Welcome home, sir," says a mechanical male voice with a British accent.**

“It sounds almost like Jarvis,” Howard observes.

“Are you saying I actually managed to create Artificial Intelligence?” Tony can’t believe his own ears, he only thought about it not so long ago, didn’t actually start yet, he didn’t have time for that.

**"Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing. And may I say," he adds as Tony's screens wake up and a YouTube video of the hearing comes up on one of them at once. "how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir." In response, Tony just chuckles.**

“All this tech though.” Tony on the couch also chuckles.

**Over at the counter, there is a splash as a bot seems to attempt mixing something in a blender.**

“Is that U?” Tony almost screams, looking at the screen amazed.

“What’s You?” Howard asks, also looking at the robot.

“I started making two robotic prototypes named DUM-E and U lately, for the annual MIT RDA.” he answers quickly, not even thinking about being snarky because  _ wow! is he really staring at U right now? _

**"U?" calls onscreen Tony, and the bot turns its claw hastily in Tony's direction.**

“It listens to you?” asks Howard again.

“They’re supposed to be imbibed with personality.” Tony shrugs, he’s not used to his father being interested in his work. 

“It’s incredible.” Maria smiles in his direction so he grins back.

**U knocks over the blender, the green drink inside spilling all over the counter and the floor.**

“Oh, boy, you’re a disaster.” Tony laughs. 

**"I swear to God I'll dismantle you," grumbles Tony. “I'll soak your motherboard, I'll turn you into a wine rack."**

“You would never.” Maria defends.

“Probably not, but I can always threaten a bit to get my point across.” 

**U lowers its’ claw with a mournful little squeak.**

“Is it sad right now?” Howard asks, sounding breathy.

“Yeah, well, he disappointed me, it’s his fault.” Tony shrugs. 

“If it’s supposed to learn you need to teach him first and I imagine you’re not good at cleaning even when you’re older,” Maria explains.

**"How many ounces a day of this gobbledegook am I supposed to drink?" asks Tony filling a glass with a dark green liquid and bringing it up.**

“What is it?” Tony narrows his eyes.

**"We are up to eighty ounces a day to counteract the symptoms, sir." answers the AI as Tony finishes filling up the glass and drinks the smoothie-like liquid.**

“Symptoms?” Maria voices.

**Tony brings out the Stark Medical Scanner once again. “Check palladium levels,” he orders, stucking his thumb on the needle.**

“Why on earth would you have palladium in your blood?” Howard asks.

**"Blood toxicity, twenty-four percent," the AI says as the words appear on the device.**

“What is it in the middle of your chest? I thought it was on the shirt but I actually think it’s glowing from under the shirt.” Maria narrows her eyes. 

“The Arc Reactor,” Howard answers, sounding slightly scared if Tony’s ears aren’t mistaken. “You used palladium in the Arc Reactor and you… put it in your chest?” he looks closely at the paused video on the screen.

_ Geez,  _ now he’s gonna have to hear his father being disappointed in something he didn’t even do yet.

**"It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man Suit is accelerating your condition." As the AI speaks, the desktop on the far right of Tony's desk displaying a diagram of the Arc Reactor sitting between his lungs, surrounded on all sides by an inch of rather ominous-looking red.**

“Stop using the suit, then.” Maria offers but Tony is pretty sure it’s not gonna be that easy.

**"Another core has been depleted," says the AI, and Tony pulls up his shirt, taking out the Arc Reactor. He turns it over in his hand and pulls a large chip out of the back.**

“Why is it inside my chest, what the hell?” Tony asks, horrified. Look, he loves robots, yes, but he doesn’t actually want to become one. 

“Is it smoking?” Maria asks.

“Kinda like a used battery,” Tony says.

**"God, they're running out quick," says Tony, throwing away the depleted core and reaching into a smallish wooden case for a fresh one.**

**"I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core." informs the AI.**

“You have to try an unknown element,” says Howard.  _ Yeah,  _ ’cause there’s a list of unknown elements for everyone to look into.

**Tony slides the new core into the Arc Reactor and clicks it back into its socket. "You are running out of both time and options," observes the AI. "Unfortunately, the device that is keeping you alive is also killing you."**

“So I need this thing in my chest to live? Why would I need a medal in my chest?” 

**Tony examines the skin around the Arc Reactor's socket in the screen of another of his desktops. The veins standing out almost black.**

“Well, that doesn’t look good at all.” snorts Tony. He’s officially dying. They are watching a movie about his death. At least that kinda explains why the Watcher  _ needed _ them to watch it.

**"Miss Potts is approaching," says JARVIS, and Tony hastily lowers his shirt. "I suggest that you inform her--“**

**“Mute.” Tony orders instead as the strawberry blonde from the Senate hearing approaches.**

“You have to tell someone if you’re getting this sick,” Maria speaks, shaking her head in disapproval as she’s still looking at the screen.

**Tony takes the images from his screens as the woman inputs a code on the key-log visible on the glass wall to his lab. The door opens and she’s coming closer on her impossibly high, high-heels. "Uh-uh!" protests Tony already, gulping another glass of his green drink.**

" **Is this a joke? What are you thinking?" the woman seems upset but controls her voice.**

**“What?”**

“What did I do though? The AI was just proud of me!” 

**“What are you thinking?!” Ms. Potts demands, her voice raises.**

" **Heyy--“ Tony starts, holding up his hand. “I’m thinking I'm busy. And you're angry about something.”**

“Never tell a woman she’s angry, son.” Howard slightly shakes his head. “She already knows that,” he adds and his wife sends him a glare.

**“Do you have the sniffles? I don't want to get sick." He gets up and begins walking away from his desk, but the woman follows.**

“Oh, because you’re so healthy at the moment,” Maria says exasperated. 

**“Did you just--“ begins the woman as Tony weaves his way through a maze of glowing holograms.**

**“Keep the distance.” Tony interrupts.**

“Those holograms though?” Tony asks, directing it to no one in particular.

“Doesn’t even seem like there are any screens nearby to project it,” Howard adds, looking closely at the screen.

**She doesn’t relent. "…donate our entire modern art collection to the…”**

" **Boy Scouts of America," finishes Tony, grabbing a largely expanded hologram of a human heart and shrinking it into a ball that fits neatly into one hand.**

“I can do that with my holograms?”

“How does that even work?”

**"Boy Scouts of America?" the woman is more upset with every second.**

“Well, that’s generous of you,” Maria says. 

**"Yes! It is a worthwhile organization!” defends Tony, as he throws the hologram he'd just shrunk towards the back of the room where it sails straight into what seems to be the digital "goal post”, responding with a cheerful "ding!" and flashing the word "SCORE”.**

“Amazing.” breathes out Howard.

“Digital trash can as a goal post. Genius right there.” Tony murmurs. 

“It looks really nice.” compliments even Maria, shaking her head slightly at all that futuristic technology.

**"I didn't physically check the crates, but basically, yes." He swipes images out of his way as he walks through his workshop, Ms. Potts still following. "And it's not technically our collection, it's my collection - no offense," he adds, turning briefly to her before going back to moving the holograms.**

“Shouldn’t have said that, dear.” Maria winces.

**The woman isn’t letting him win. "No, you know what? I think I'm actually entitled to say "our" collection** **_[the scorekeeper sounds again]_ ** **considering the time that I put in, over 10 years, curating that."**

“10 years?” Tony’s mouth open. He’s known a woman - who isn’t his mom - for 10 years and didn’t drive her away just yet. Woah.

“Oh, really shouldn’t have donated it.” 

**"It was a tax write-off. I needed that." Tony defends his actions.**

**Potts is visibly losing patience. "You know, there are only about 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about."**

**As they continue walking, there’s a bot that appears to be working at some part of one of the machines.**

“Oh my god, DUM-E.”

**"Dum-E!" says Tony sharply, snapping his fingers at the aforementioned bot. "Stop spacing out, Bridgeport's already machining that part," he says and the bot follows him, but then gives out when he sees Tony isn’t paying him any attention.**

“Is he going back to--, are you kidding me?” 

" **The Expo is a gigantic waste of time," says the woman.**

**Tony places his hands on her upper arms. "I need you to wear a surgical mask until you're feeling better. Is that okay?"**

**"That's rude.”**

“If you had told her your immune system is failing due to the palladium poisoning...” Howard shakes his head. “Otherwise it does come out quite rude.”

**Tony walks off. "There's nothing more important to me than the Expo. It's my primary point of concern. I don't know why you're…"**

**"The Expo is your ego going crazy." Potts disagrees.**

‘Actually, I think it is about legacy.’ Tony frowns, thinking that but not daring to speak out loud. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m dying right there, and the Expo is a great last act of one’s life.’

**"Wow, look at that!" says Tony, pausing to pick up a framed picture of the Iron Man Suit’s helmet and shoulders in simple red and blue with the words IRON MAN painted on a black stripe across the bottom. "That's modern art," he says. "That's going up."**

“Should’ve waited until she left,” Maria says.

“Who is she anyway?” wonders Tony. There’s something magnetic about her, even through the screen. “Hello, Mr. Watcher?” he looks up at the ceiling again and it stays silent again. Tony groans.

**They disagree but Tony claims that it’s vital and the woman moves on.** " **Stark is in complete disarray," she says instead. "Can you understand that?"**

That makes Howard lean in closer to the screen and focus on listening, because  _ of course. _

**Tony makes a face. "Why's it so - no, our stocks have never been higher, you are -"**

**"Yes, from a managerial standpoint, but -"**

**" - well, if it's messy, then let's double back -"**

**"Let me give you an example--“**

**"Let's move on to another subject--“**

“You two talk fast.” Maria chuckles. 

**There’s a framed painting hanging on the wall above the counter where Tony was planning to put up the new framed piece, and he eyes it for a moment before raising the picture he’s carrying.**

**"Oh, no, no, no, no!" shouts Potts, quite hoarse by now. "You are not taking down the Barnett Newman and hanging that up--“**

“But why not?” frowns Tony.

**He reaches the corner of the lab and quickly climbs up onto the kitchen unit. "I'm not taking it down," he argues. "I'm replacing it with this." He takes the Barnett Newman painting off its hooks and puts it down next to him. "Let's see what I can get going here!" he adds cheerfully as he begins hanging up the Iron Man art.**

“Don’t jump on the furniture like that.” Maria scolds. 

**"Okay, fine," huffs Potts. "My point is, we have already awarded contracts to the wind farm people--"**

“Hey, that’s cool. Clean energy!” 

**"Don't say wind farm, I'm already feeling gassy,"** **Tony waves away.**

**"--and to the plastic plantation tree, which was your idea, by the way. Those people are on payroll…”**

“Is Stark Industries going green?” asks Howard. “What about the weapons division?”

**"- everything was my idea -"**

**"--and you won't make a decision!"**

**"I don't care about the liberal agenda anymore!" Tony turns and spreads his hands. "It's boring-" He hops down off the counter. "boring, I'm giving you a boring alert, you do it."**

“This isn’t boring, it’s called being responsible,” Howard says.

“Oh, what I am seeing here is you in your thirties, darling.” Maria answers and Tony wants to throw up at hearing him being compared to his father.

Howard just seems like he feels betrayed and then turns back to the screen.

**Potts looks baffled. "I do what?"**

**Tony looks like he'd just had an epiphany. "Excellent idea. I just figured this out. You run the company."**

“Oh, you can’t be serious!” exclaims Howard.

“Careful, you sound sexist,” Tony warns. 

**"Yeah, I'm trying to run the company--" the woman is fuming at this point.**

**"Pepper, I need you to run the company," Tony is adamant. "-well, stop trying to do it and do it-"**

**She’s getting really exasperated. "You won't give me the information I need--"**

**"I'm not asking you to try to do it--"**

**"-in order to-"**

**"-I'm asking you to physically do it. I need you to do it."**

**Pepper's shoulders go up. "I am trying to do it--"**

**"Pepper, you're not listening to me!" shouts Tony.**

**"No, you're not listening to me-"**

**"I'm trying to make you CEO!” the woman named apparently Pepper stops. She looks at Tony as if he'd grown a second head. “Why won't you let me?" he asks.**

**She looks startled and shocked, then leaning forward and scrutinizing Tony. "Have you been drinking?"**

“Only something green and nasty.” 

**"Ah, chlorophyll," answers Tony.**

“So that’s what that is.”

**He steps forward and places his hands on her arms. "I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries effective immediately. Yeah, done deal. Okay?" He walks away.**

“Well, that was easy.” shrugs Tony.

“Are you completely serious right now? We just lost the Company?” Howard doesn’t look too pleased.

“Hey, if she was better at the job, which she is--“ Tony shrugs.

“It’s just the CEO position.” Maria calms down her husband.

**Pepper is too shocked to speak. Meanwhile one of the bots rolls over holding a tray with glasses and champagne.**

“U is more helpful than DUM-E, why doesn’t it surprise me?” Tony chuckles.

**Tony reaches for them, pouring the champagne into the glasses. "I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not. Doing a bit of headhunting, so to speak, trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realized it's you. It's always been you."** **Pepper falls down into a chair, so Tony continues to explain his thought processes. "I thought there'd be a legal issue, but actually I'm capable of appointing my successor. My successor being you." He hands her a glass but she doesn’t take it. "Congratulations? Take it, just take it."**

“Her expression is perfect.” Tony laughs. 

“Well, she does have a reason, dear.” Maria answers. 

**Pepper’s shaking her head, a happy and surprised expression on her face. "I don't know what to think." She takes the glass.**

**“Don’t think, just drink.”** **They tap glasses and the woman laughs slightly.**

Tony catches his mother looking at him with this expression on her face she always gets when she asks him about girls, so he just sinks further into the couch.

**In a snowy alleyway in Russia, a man hands Ivan Vanko a letter.**

“Ugh, this guy again.” Tony groans. He actually wonders whether this Ivan will kill him first or he’ll have to suffer through the palladium poisoning. 

**Then, Vanko retreats further into the darkness and opens the letter that contains a fake passport and a ticket for the Grand Prix De Monaco Historique.**

“Why Monaco, what is in Monaco?” Maria asks, narrowing her eyes. Her voice sounds edgy and Tony wishes it’d stop showing this man even if just for her sake.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> monaco’s just a really nice vacation destination


	6. happy time

**Music begins to play again as Pepper walks through a hallway.**

“The Clash's The Magnificent Seven,” Tony says. “The taste here.” he approves.

“You and your music.”

“It’s vital.”

**The woman walks into a gym or fitness room with a boxing ring in the middle. "The notary's here!" she calls. "Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?"**

“It’s getting official.” Howard shakes his head, visibly not pleased.

“Oh, look at this beautiful view outside.” Maria smiles, ignoring her husband.

**"I'm on Happy time!” answers Tony from the boxing ring. He’s sparring with his bodyguard, who’s dressed in protective gear and seems to be coaching him.**

“Hey yea, work it.” 

**Tony delivers a strike that makes the man's head fly backward with a grunt. "Sorry," he says hastily.**

**"What the hell was that?!" demands the man angrily.**

“A dirty move.” Howard answers.

“Calm down, I said sorry.”

**“It's called mixed martial arts," explains Tony, hopping back and forth. "It's been around for… three weeks now--“**

“Don’t think that was the right answer,” Maria says.

**"It's called dirty boxing," snaps the bodyguard. “There's nothing new about it.”**

Howard just nods his head.

**Then, a woman comes into the room holding a folder. She’s dressed in a white blouse and black pants, and her long hair falls in waves around her shoulders. Happy and Tony pause their sparring bout to gape at the woman.**

“That’s quite inappropriate.” Maria scrutinizes and Tony hides half of his face in his arm from embarrassment.

**"I promise you this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company," calls Pepper, smiling politely at the notary as she walks closer.**

Tony chuckles. 

**The notary opens her folder for Pepper to look at and explains where to initial. Tony is still watching the unknown woman from the boxing ring. The bodyguard giving him a thump in the back of the head to make him turn around. "Lesson one," he says. "Never take your eye off your--“ he doesn’t end his sentence because Tony's foot slams into the mat protecting his stomach, and it sends him reeling against the other side of the boxing ring.**

“Ouch, I’m sorry.” Tony winces, but the man has a protective mat so at least there’s that.

**Pepper and the woman both look up at the sound of a heavy thud and the gong dinging followed by the bodyguard’s voice "That's it, I'm done" as he begins to remove his gear.**

**"What's your name, lady?" calls Tony, pointing at the newcomer.**

“Don’t point with your finger at people,” Maria says. 

**"Rushman, Natalie Rushman," answers the woman with dark red hair.**

**"Front and center, come into the church," commands Tony, taking a swallow of his chlorophyll.**

**"No," starts Pepper. "You're seriously not going to ask her--“**

“Why you gotta kill my fun, Pep?” he almost whines.

**"If it pleases the court, which it does," argues Tony.**

**"It's no problem," Natalie assures, and her heels click on the floor as she walks to the boxing ring, not registering Pepper's "I'm sorry, he's very eccentric."**

“That’s a good thing, though.” Tony defends himself. 

“Oh, eccentric does not even begin to describe you sometimes.” Maria chuckles warmly.

“At least I’m not boring.” he shoots his mother a smile.

**Tony lifts the ropes, and Natalie slips her shoes off and ducks under them as she climbs inside the ring. She straightens up and eyes Tony as if sizing him up.**

“That look is quite scary, I don’t know.” Tony narrows his eyes.

**Tony eyes Natalie as well and takes another drink from his bottle. The woman smiles at him. Tony takes the bottle from his mouth. "What?" he asks in a tone as if he heard her saying something, just didn’t know what exactly. He gestures to his coach. "Could you, uh, give her a lesson?" he asks, stepping out of the boxing ring already.**

**The man obligingly steps closer. "Um-hm, no problem,"**

**Tony goes to sit down by the strawberry blonde.**

**"Pepper," he says at once.**

**"What?" asks Pepper, who’s obviously less than impressed.**

**"Who is she?"**

**"She is from legal," comes the answer. “and she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that--“**

“Smart woman.” Maria nods her head as if she was approving of Pepper.

**"I need a new assistant, boss,” says Tony, almost whining. "I need a new assistant."**

“Pepper’s the CEO now, why can’t you hire Natalie by yourself?” Tony asks his future self.

“Because you value her opinion.” his mother answers.

“Or it’s a habit, she’s worked for him what, 10 years he said?” Howard adds.

**"Yes," Pepper looks at her phone. "And I've got three excellent potential candidates lined up and ready to meet you -"**

**"I don't have time to meet," says Tony. "I need someone now, I feel like it's her."**

“You feel or you see?” Maria asks with a smirk and Tony swears to god that he doesn’t blush.

**Pepper looks up with an exasperated smile. "No, it's not.”**

**The bodyguard asks Natalie if she ever boxed before and then Tony calls on, asking how to spell her name, so she turns around and spells it out exactly how it sounds. Tony claps his still-gloved hands together, and the table next to him wakes up with desktop icons appearing on the glass surface.**

“The freaking glass table is a holographic desktop?” Tony asks, directing it to no one in particular.

“What does it take to turn it around like that?”

“It looks incredibly convenient, though,” the teen murmurs once again.

“Thousands of lines of code must be all around that entire mansion.” Howard shakes his head, dare Tony say… impressed?

**"What, are you going to Google her now?" asks Pepper.**

**"Hum? I thought I was ogling her," answers Tony.**

“Funny,” says Maria.

**He begins scrolling through numerous files attached to Natalie Rushman. "Oh, wow," he says approvingly. "Very, very impressive individual."**

**“You're so predictable, you know that?" asks Pepper, sounding quite used to that and Tony keeps listing what he reads, like languages the woman speaks, he also pulls out professionally made pictures of her, admiring them.**

“Dear, you are making Pepper jealous right now,” Maria says.

“I’m not! It’s the future me, I don’t even know Pepper!” 

“Well, I can’t talk to the future-you right now, so I’m telling the teenage-you so that the future-you remembers this conversation,” she explains. Tony just groans in response. 

**Natalie watches Tony and Pepper bickering from the boxing ring when the bodyguard speaks from behind her "Rule number one: never take your eye off your oppo--“ The woman’s head snaps around, and her left-hand closes on the man’s right arm. She pushes sideways on the arm, and in an instant her body is flipped completely around, her feet flying over her head and her legs fastening around his neck. He’s topped like a ninepin.**

**"Whoa!" cries Tony, with Pepper’s “Oh, my God!" heard at the same time. Natalie unwinds her legs from the man’s throat and gets up. "Happy!" squeaks Pepper anxiously.**

“Wait, his name is actually Happy?” Tony’s eyes widen. “That’s so cool.”

“Oh poor man, getting beat up like that.” Maria shakes her head.

**"That's what I'm talking about." Tony gets up and approaches the ring again.**

**"Just slipped," says Happy climbing to his feet rather more slowly than Natalie.**

Tony laughs at that and so do his parents.

**"You did?" Tony rings the bell. "Looks like a TKO to me.”**

**Natalie slips out of the ring and stands up in front of Tony. "I just need your impression.”**

**Tony squints. "You have a quiet reserve? I don't know, you've got an old soul-"**

“I think she means fingerprint, dear.” Maria chuckles.

**"I meant your fingerprint." Natalie corrects, opening up her file.**

**"Right," nods Tony, and he presses his finger into the ink, then places it where the woman motions for him to.**

“Couldn’t have taken your glove off for it?”

“It still works.” shrugs Tony.

**"So, how're we doing?" Pepper comes up to them with a professional smile.**

**"Great," answers Tony. "Just wrapping up, hey." he points to his fingerprint on the page. "You're the boss."**

Tony makes a point of not looking at his father’s face right now. “I feel like this is the best decision I’ve ever made.” 

**Natalie closes the file. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"**

**While Tony says no, Pepper counters with "Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman. Thank you very much."**

**As the notary** **leaves, Tony turns to Pepper with "I want one.”, but she’s quick to just say a simple “No.” as if she knew that was coming.**

Maria chuckles once again and Tony hides his face once again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: when ppl write tony having an abusive dad it physically hurts me


	7. monaco

**While a loud, driving rhythm pounds over the speakers, there’s a glimpse of town on a green hillside that slopes down to the sea. ‘Monaco’ reads on the screen.**

“Oh no, Monaco,” whispers Maria.

**A man speaks in French, announcing the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique.**

“Is this lunatic gonna be here?” Tony winces, thinking about Vanko.

**At that moment, with two security guards riding in front, a car pulls to a stop in front of an expensive-looking hotel. Tony Stark steps out of the back door.**

“I’m the lunatic then.” Tony nods.

“The security will catch Vanko should he try anything at the event,” Howard says but it weirdly sounds as if he was reassuring himself. Is Tony going crazy or does his father care about him a little bit?

**Anybody that happens to be sitting or standing where they could see him at once burst into applause and Tony raises two fingers in salute at that. On the other side of the car, Happy opens the door for the new CEO of Stark Industries, holding a red briefcase in his right hand.**

“It’s not just a briefcase, is it?” Tony narrows his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Howard turns to him.

“It’s too flashy for just a briefcase.” he shrugs.

**Inside the hotel, Tony leads the way into what seems to be the dining room.**

“Oh, posh,” Maria says.

**"You know, it's Europe," says Tony, turning briefly to Pepper. "Whatever happens in the next twenty minutes, just go with it."**

“Oof, trouble?”

“It’s you,” answers Howard.

**"Go with it?" asks Pepper suspiciously.**

**"Mr. Stark?" is heard a female voice.**

**“Like that.” Tony turns to look at no other than Natalie Rushman. “Hey.”**

**"Hello, how was your flight?"**

**"It was excellent," answers Tony, and he takes a small glass from a tray that was being offered him by a waiter. "Boy, it's good to see you." Pepper looks from Tony to Natalie in shock.**

“So I can hire someone on my own.” Tony smiles in triumph.

**"We have one photographer from the ACM if you don't mind," says Natalie, gesturing over her shoulder, and a man who’s standing behind her raises a camera.**

“Who would ever mind a paparazzi.”

**"When did this happen?" asks Pepper, her teeth gritted in a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.**

**"You made me do it," answers Tony, his mouth also stretched into a smile meant clearly for the camera only.**

“Yea, you quit.”

“You promoted her, dear.”

“Obviously, I must’ve not realized at that moment what it would mean.”

**"Smile," says Tony, pointing to the photographer. "Great. Stop acting constipated, don't flare your nostrils." he coaches.**

“I don’t like it that you know how to act for the camera.”

“I already have 5 different masks, I’d expect to have more of them by this time,” he answers automatically, only a second later catching up to what he said and that he said it to his mother and he hides a wince.

“You have masks?” Howard asks him, turning around.

“What do you think? That I’m 16 years old and actually sleeping with ten different girls every week?” he snorts. “It’s pretty easy to show you a mask when you don’t even pay attention to me.” he turns back to the screen.

**As Pepper stays behind to grab a drink, Tony follows Natalie. ”Right this way," she says as they walk across the dining room to one of the large windows overlooking the race track.**

“Show us the cars,” Howard says.

“Oh, you and the cars.” Maria barely holds back rolling her eyes.

“I’m curious if there are any flying cars in the future.” the man continues.

“You do realize that normalized flying cars would be simply inconvenient?” Tony asks, fed up with this topic already.

“It wouldn’t be.”

“Use a plane if you want to fly, cars in the air would make everything messy, scare the birds, and more than likely be bad for the air pollution,” Tony answers, looking back at the screen already.

“Don’t speak to me with that tone, young man.” his father answers, but he doesn’t really know how to deal with Tony so that threat isn’t quite scary even if he doesn’t realize it. Tony only gives up because he said what he was supposed to say already, and he wants to watch this future already and get back to his life.

**"You look fantastic," Tony compliments the woman.**

“She does, but a boss shouldn’t talk to his employee that way.” Maria reminds.

**“Why, thank you very much," Natalie answers.**

**"But that's unprofessional," Tony goes on. "What's on the docket?"**

“See, I can be professional.” Tony points out and his mom only smiles and shakes her head fondly. 

**"You have a nine-thirty dinner," says Natalie, smiling up at him.**

**"Perfect," answers Tony, putting his sunglasses back on. "I'll be there at eleven.”**

“Dear, that is not how meetings work at all.” Maria sighs.

“At least I warned in advance.” 

“Being on time is one of the most important things about a meeting in the first place,” adds Howard. “If you're late that much it just shows disrespect.”

“I think fashionably late still describes 90 minutes, now can we go back to watching this because I didn’t even say that yet so I don’t see any point in lecturing me?” Tony’s smile is tight and very obviously fake. 

**Tony points at a table next to the window. “Is this us?"**

**"It can be," answers Natalie, her arms folded behind her back.**

**"Great, make it us," says Tony, and the PA steps aside to tap a waiter on the arm.**

**Meanwhile, Pepper walks up to a man in a white suit jacket. "Mr. Musk," she greets him. "How are you?"**

“Why is there so much small talk?” Tony groans. “Can’t they just show the race already?”

“This is how social gatherings work, dear.”

**"Hello, Pepper," says Mr. Musk, rising to his feet and shaking her hand. "Congratulations on the promotion."**

**"Thank you very much," answers Pepper politely.**

“Why does the look on his face look like she didn’t deserve it or something?” Tony narrows his eyes.

“Well, that’s a woman in a high position, he probably thinks she got it through bed.” his mom answers.

“That’s horrible, she’s literally more qualified than me, I can see that after what- twenty minutes?”

“I guess the world doesn’t change that much just yet.” Maria sighs.

**Tony notices the man. "Elon!”**

“Ugh, why do I know this prick?” groans Tony.

**“How's it going?" he asks, getting up to shake the man's hand in his turn. "Those Merlin engines are fantastic."**

“This man is working on Merlin engines?” Howard sounds interested.

“Maybe his engines are in the cars or at least one of them that are going to be racing.”

**"Thank you," says Elon. "I've got an idea for an electric jet.”**

“Uhh, no, thank you.” Tony frowns.

**“You do?" says Tony, already a step past the man.**

**"Yeah," answers Musk.**

“Is an electric jet even possible?” Tony tilts his head.

“Not likely to be happening anytime soon even in the future but even if so, it would just be small aircrafts.” answers Howard. 

“Gotta try using solar power,” Tony says.

“Jet fuel contains around 30 times more energy per kilogram than the most advanced lithium-ion battery in-talks to be available,” Howard explains.

“So the plane would need batteries weighing 30 times more than its current fuel intake, meaning it would never get off the ground.” the teen talks to himself. “Awh.” he winces. “Well, it’s a nice idea.” he shrugs.

**"We'll make it work," says Tony over his shoulder as he walks after Pepper.**

“This is definitely my  _ it-will-never-happen-but-i-won’t-tell-you-that _ face,” Tony smirks.

**“You want a massage?" he asks Pepper, putting his arm around her.**

**"Oh, God," sighs Pepper. "No, I don't want a massage."**

“Why not?” Tony frowns.

“She flew to Monaco as a CEO, not to get massages.” Maria answers.

**"I'll have Natalie make an appointment," says Tony as he walks with Pepper toward the bar. "I don't want you to be tense--"**

**"I don't want Natalie to do anything -" protests Potts.**

**"By the way, I didn't mean to spring this on you," Tony goes on.**

**"- thank you very much," finishes Pepper rather wearily, and puts her glass up on the counter.**

**"Green is not your best color," says Tony, coming around to stand in front of the woman.**

“She’s not wearing anything green,” Howard observes.

“I never said my mind works in a logical way.” Tony shrugs.

**"Anthony? Is that you?" sounds the voice of the Hammer guy from the Senate hearing. It’s followed by the man stepping closer. "Hey, pal!" says Hammer, clapping Tony on the shoulder.**

**"My least favorite person on earth - Justin Hammer," says Tony, turning only at the last possible moment.**

“Doesn’t he see that we’re not friends?” Tony resists the urge to throw his hands up in frustration. He already has enough people trying to befriend him because his last name is Stark.

**Then, Hammer proceeds to introduce a female reporter who is with him and she asks Pepper for a quote for her editor.**

“Oh, Powerful Women issue? That sounds interesting.” Maria speaks, looking at the screen.

**Pepper looks from Hammer to Christine. "Well, she did quite a spread on Tony last year."**

**"And she wrote a story** **_as well,_ ** **" adds Tony, rather hurriedly, just to spite Hammer.**

“Oh, I see you!” the teenager sits up on the couch, crossing his legs.

“No, no, no. That’s too much information,” says Maria, gesturing to him with her left hand.

**"So, I'm gonna -" Pepper moves to step away as they continue about the previous topic.**

**"Don't leave me," pleads Tony quickly, but is ignored.**

**"Hey, buddy, how're ya doing?" Hammer slides an arm around Tony's shoulders.**

“Don’t touch me.” Tony hisses.

“Hasn’t he ever heard about personal space?” Howard doesn’t sound pleased either. It’s funny seeing Howard’s  _ dislike _ directed at someone other than Tony himself.

**"I'm all right," Tony’s unsubtly trying to move away from the man.**

**"Looking gorgeous," Hammer comments.**

“Always am,” Tony answers, looking at the screen with a scowl.

“This man is really making  _ me _ uncomfortable right now,” Maria mutters.

**While Hammer keeps forcing himself on Tony, the billionaire looks to be almost in physical pain, trying to escape with sentences like "Please this is tough." and "God, that's so awful." However, when a photographer comes up to them, he quickly hides his eyes behind sunglasses and schools the expression on his face.**

“There goes the mask again.” Tony murmurs. “The sunglasses though, this is a worthy trick.” He regrets having spoken out loud of course, when he catches his father looking at him with a weird emotion on his face that Tony isn’t able to recognize because he’s never seen it before on Howard.

**When Tony moves to walk away, the reporter and that awful man follow him, while bickering about whether Hammer’s contract was put on hold or canceled.**

“There’s literally no difference. You embarrassed yourself and whoever decided to hire you so then they cut ties with you.” Tony comments.

“However, I have a feeling that if they won’t be able to find a replacement, they will just wait until the storm passes and then quietly hire him again,” Howard adds, with a slight scowl on his face.

“Literally why would they do that? He’s terrible.” Tony answers. “And even if the pilot testing the suit survived, he’s probably paralyzed or something because this guy is messing with stuff that’s obviously above his pay grade.” the teen gestures to the screen.

“Unfortunately, this is just how business works.” Howard keeps his face neutral. “I don’t know why Stark Industries isn’t the primary weapons contractor, but the Army needs weapons to go to war, so if this Hammer man is the next best thing they can get, they’ll have to do with him,” he explains with patience Tony didn’t expect him to possess.

The teen doesn’t answer anymore, but he hopes that Stark Industries isn’t in the weapons business anymore because they really changed focus. Tony was the CEO after all before he gave that position to Pepper, so maybe he decided that they were done creating more chaos and destruction than there already is in the world? He thinks he’d prefer to focus on technology and maybe robots similar to DUM-E and U, they seem to have worked out pretty nice. 

**They sit down on the first free table while Hammer talks about his desire to present something of his own at Stark Expo.**

“I believe the future me said only brilliant minds are allowed.” Tony snorts.

**Fortunately, Natalie saves Tony in time. "Mr. Stark? Your corner table is ready."**

**They walk away with the genius throwing "Hammer needs a slot, Christine." over his shoulder.**

“You really couldn’t have made it more clear for him that you don’t like him.” Howard shakes his head.

“Obviously, he has some kind of mental blindness.” Tony shrugs.

**"We kid. We're kidders." Justin’s voice is heard.**

Tony throws his hands out in frustration. “Why are you like this?!” he asks the man whose face already disappeared from the screen.

“Maybe he doesn’t really want to be your rival.” Maria offers.

“Yeah, ‘cause he’s losing,” Tony states the obvious. “Doesn’t mean he wants to be my friend either.”

**Inside his hotel room, Tony pricks his finger with the medical device once again, and this time it reads BLOOD TOXICITY: 53%.**

“Already?” Howard asks, straightening in his seat.

“Well, that is raising worryingly fast.” Tony winces.

**He places his hands on the marble countertop in front of the mirror and gazes down, resigned.**

“No, you can’t just give up,” Tony says to his onscreen-self. “There’s gotta be  _ something _ that could replace palladium.”

“And if anyone can find it, it’s you, dear.” his mom answers, though she sounds worried. Tony notices his father looking like he wants to say something, maybe about whatever unknown element he mentioned earlier, but he keeps his mouth in a straight line and his gaze doesn’t waver from the screen for even a second.

**Tony lifts his head. "Got any new bad ideas?" he asks his reflection.**

“Oops.” the teen winces.

“Please just go back to your table,” Maria murmurs. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok but the next chapter is the race/fight vanko v tony and i cant wait to post it


	8. the race (battle)

**Tony is outside, surrounded by security guards, photographers, and eager fans. He’s striding towards the race track, dressed in a blue and black jumpsuit with the name "Stark" in white letters, stitched all over his chest. He jumps onto the race track.**

“Oh, no. This is a terrible idea.” Maria shakes her head. 

“You’re not about to drive, are you?” Howard asks the onscreen Tony, sounding quite angry and like he already knows the answer.

**Back in the dining room, a television is streaming Tony live behind Justin Hammer's head as he continues his interview. He tries to convince Christine that Tony and he are friends.**

“Really, man. This is pathetic.” Tony shakes his head.

“Obviously he wants to profit off the Stark name,” Howard growls.

**Christine's eyes travel to the screen where Tony’s facing the cameras. "Well, what's the use of having and owning a race car, if you don't drive it?"**

“Sounds logic to me.” Tony shrugs.

“No, no.” Maria shakes her head. “Owning a race car is one thing, driving it is completely different,” she says. “Just owning a car is no reason for actually participating in a race.” she sounds stressed.

“It’s incredibly dangerous, especially if you’re not a professional,” Howard adds.

“It’s the future, maybe in the future, I am a professional. We don’t know.” the teen defends himself.

“We know. You’re an engineer and a businessman, not a racing driver.” Howard answers, with enough of a note of finality that Tony decides to end the conversation here.

**The crowd cheers and Pepper notices what is happening, calling Natalie to herself. "This is the first that I've known of it," says the PA.**

**On the TV screen, the name Stark appears on the list of contestants. "This cannot happen," Pepper comments.**

“Let me just have some fun, pleeease.” Tony whines.

**Natalie runs away in the search for Happy, and Hammer goes on lying his way through the disaster-interview.**

“I can’t even focus on watching the amazing race cars right now, because I’m too busy being worried that my son is going to kill himself driving one of them.” Howard grits through his teeth.

“I can drive a car.” Tony rolls his eyes.

“But this is different.” 

**Christine walks away from Hammer, shifting her attention to what is happening with Tony Stark while he is now in a race car, helmet on his head. He raises a finger in greeting as he looks into the camera, and Hammer scowls watching it.**

“Why does that woman have a flip phone?” chooses to comment Tony when he notices the phone in Christine’s hand.

“At least you’re wearing a protective helmet.” Maria breathes out.

**On the race track, Tony revs the engine a few times and gives someone next to him a thumbs up to indicate he’s ready.**

“What a beautiful thing,” comments Tony on the sound as well as the graphics. “It makes me really want to go to a race right now.”

“Only if you want your mother to have a heart attack.” Maria threatens him with a finger raised in the air so he lifts his hands up in surrender.

**Up above in the crowded stands, people cheer eagerly. Five sets of traffic lights on the pole above the race cars glow brightly, and an announcer counts down in French. When the lights turn red, the race begins. All the cars zoom off in a line down the track, motors whining loudly. They turn corners and steer curves at breakneck speed.**

“I’m sorry but that looks amazing.” Tony points at the screen.

Howard sighs. “It does, I wonder about the engines…”

**It shows a person dressed in an orange jumpsuit and a helmet labeled 'Intervention' walking in a line with other similarly dressed attendants. The man’s face is visible only underneath the clear part of the helmet, but it’s enough to recognize who he is.**

“Oh my god, please no,” Tony whispers.

“Is that Ivan Vanko?” Maria pales.

“How did he get through to the security? He has a fake name on the plate, he shouldn’t even be let anywhere near this event.” Howard growls, his palm closing into a fist.

**Meanwhile, oblivious Tony is still racing, seeming to be doing fairly well.**

“I’m good.” the teen nods to himself. 

“That isn’t the point.” 

**While Pepper waits for Happy to arrive, Ivan breaks away from the rest of the line, and Tony with the other drivers comes out of a tunnel and zooms along the track. Then, Ivan steps out onto the track, letting one of the contestants pass him by. He stops in the middle of the road, waiting, and in the dining room, Pepper's eyes widen with horror.**

“Pepper already knows what’s up,” Tony says to himself.

“Yes, it seems she has to deal with you a lot.” his mother responds to him, though not even turning in his direction.

**Hammer joins a small gathering watching the event just as Ivan pulls open his orange jacket, under which the Arc Reactor glows brightly. He powers up his weapon, crackling and sparkling with electricity, and it burns his shirt off.**

“There’s no defense, it’s just to hurt.” Tony realizes as he sees no armor like in his Iron Man Suit. This thing is just like a harness, holding together the Arc Reactor and the whips so that he could attack.

“Knowing his father, the offensive strategy isn’t surprising,” murmurs Howard.

**Then, as an unknown driver comes screeching towards Ivan, he steps forward and without any thought, he brings one of the whips down across the front of the race car, slicing off part of the car and ignoring it as it crashes with the driver still in his seat.**

“Oh my god!” Maria almost jumps in her seat.

“This guy is a maniac.” Tony watches. “If he just wants me, why does he have to hurt someone innocent in the process?” he asks, horrified.

“He wants to do as much damage as he can,” Howard answers quietly.

**The watchers in the dining room gasp in horror, except for Hammer, who seems to be more interested than afraid.**

“This idiot is a lunatic too, why is he watching this as if he enjoyed it?” Tony’s voice is dripping with disgust. 

**Finally, in the doorway of the room, Happy appears with the shiny briefcase he’s been carrying before.**

“The briefcase, yeah. Knew this couldn’t just be a regular briefcase.” Tony nods.

“What is in it?” Maria narrows her eyes.

“Maybe some sort of weapon similar to the Iron Man suit, the color would certainly match,” answers Howard.

**Next moment Happy’s jumping a car and Pepper flings herself into the back seat. "Go, go!" she shouts and the man quickly drives straight through the gate with a crash, and with a screech of swerving tires, he swings round to follow the track.**

“No, don’t go there, it’s dangerous!” 

“They are going to get themselves killed!”

**Security guards are briefly shown hurrying the civilians out of harm's way.**

“If you did a better job checking the people coming in, you wouldn’t have such a problem right now!” sounds Howard’s angry voice.

**Then Tony comes flying around a bend, onto the stretch where Ivan stands waiting for him. He doesn’t even have time to react before Vanko swings the whip right across the front of his car. The entire section snaps off, and Tony goes spinning through the air in the remaining part of the car.**

“Oh my goodness!” Maria yells, a heartbreaking sound tearing out of her throat.

“Tony!” Howard yells as well and even though the teen is terrified by what’s happening on screen he takes a second to just cherish the fact that his father called him  _ Tony _ and not Anthony. He swallows and does his best not to show many emotions on his face when he feels both of his parents’ gazes on him.

**The car lands upside down, and Tony begins to struggle, trapped in the machine. While Vanko slowly walks closer, Tony pulls off his helmet and looks upside down at the man, trying to understand what just happened.**

“Please get out of there fast!” Maria worries and Howard lies a hand on her back, to comfort her as much as he can right now.

**A few cars come up behind Ivan, crashing into one another while the man doesn’t even spare them one glance. Happy and Pepper are driving, shouting at each other nervously about the case and a key.**

“Please, tell me that case is actually something good.” Tony murmurs while in reality, his thoughts are going  _ I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die and mom is going to watch me die, I’m gonna die while my parents are watching.  _ What the hell was that Watcher thinking?!

**Vanko marches up to Tony's car and cuts it in the middle, but when the pieces fall apart, Tony is nowhere to be seen.**

“Oh, thank god, you got away.” Maria breathes out.

**Then, from behind, Tony hits Ivan on the head with part of a car door.**

“Do you have a death wish?!” Howard yells at the screen. 

“Please, run.” Maria whispers and all Tony can do is stare at the scene, almost frozen, and just hope that by some miracle he survives that fight.

**Vanko turns quickly and swings his whips again. Tony's makeshift weapon flies out of his hands and he goes tumbling to the ground. Ivan brings down one of his whips but Tony rolls aside just in time. He scoots backward until Vanko attacks again, and again he rolls out of the way.**

“Oh shit, those reflexes.” the teen is amazed, honestly, because at the moment even a lab station is able to defeat him. He can’t count how many times he didn’t notice a table or a part of some machine lying on the ground and tripped over it or found some other way to injure himself while in his engineer-genius trance. 

**Onscreen, Tony scrambles to his feet and makes a bolt for the remains of another car, he tries to jump up on top of it as Vanko swings for him again but ends up falling flat on the ground. He groans in pain and lies there, trying to re-orient himself.**

“You need to get up, dear.” cheers on him his mom.

**He notices the gasoline dripping from the tank so he stays there, waiting. Ivan walks up to him, smacking his lightning ropes on the ground, but Tony jumps up and springs away just in time, while the car goes up in flames.**

“That was smart,” Howard says, taking a breath. “But if you hadn’t timed it right…” he doesn’t finish. Honestly, Tony is lost between watching himself almost die every five seconds and between the fact that apparently, his father gives a shit about him?

**As Tony steadies himself he realizes that his arm is on fire.**

“Oh, my dear!” Maria is going to get a heart attack any second now, she swears to everything that is holy. Maybe it’s just a nightmare, maybe there is no actual  _ watching future Tony’s death experiences. _ A nightmare would be so much more welcome than this race track situation being true.

**Hastily he begins beating at the flames and manages to put out the small fire, backing away as Vanko comes on him yet again. Then, he notices a black car flying into view, and recognizing it, he jumps on the fence while Happy smashes Ivan into the railing.**

“Thank god for that man’s quick thinking,” Howard says quietly, releasing a breath he’s been holding. 

“He almost drove into your son!” answers him Maria.

**"Are you okay?" shouts Happy as Tony jumps down from the fence.**

**"Yeah," snaps Tony, marching up to the front window. "Were you heading for me or him?"**

**"I was trying to scare him!" protests Happy.**

**"Cause I can't tell!" Tony goes on indignantly.**

“Give him a break, he did help you.”

**"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" screams Pepper. "GET IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!"**

**"Better security!" Tony barks. "I was attacked! We need better security! You're CEO!"**

“She just became the CEO.” defends Maria.

“The security is on those organizing the event,” says Howard. “And they should all respond for whatever happened that allowed this man in there.”

**"Get in the car!" calls Happy, who’s really holding it together well.**

“You can just tell looking at his calm demeanor that he’s dealt with shit like this before.” Howard shakes his head.

“Language, Howard, your son is sitting right there.”

“That’s fine mom, I know worse,” Tony says, trying to shed some light and humor considering what they’ve just seen and experienced, but the moment his parents both glare at him, he realizes it was a wrong thing to say.

“You’re on thin ice right now,” Howard says.

“Driving in a race, what are you thinking?” asks Maria.

“ _ I didn’t do it yet. _ ” he tries to explain it through gritted teeth once again.

**Tony marches around the back of the car, still griping. "Better security measures. God, this is embarrassing!" He opens the back door - "First vacation in two years!" - when half of the car door suddenly breaks off in his hand. Ivan's whip splitting it right down the middle.**

“Okay, note to myself, never go on vacation,” he says.

“How is this man still going at it after being hit with the car?!” 

**Tony reels back in surprise. Pepper and Happy both cry out, but Happy instantly throws the car into reverse, backs it up, and slams Ivan into the fence again. "Oh my God!" howls poor Pepper.**

**"I got him!" shouts Happy.**

**"Hit him again! Hit him again!" cries Tony, and he reaches into the back seat. "Football!"**

“Oh, this poor Pepper in the backseat.” Maria shakes her head.

“Football is for  _ give me the case, _ so what is in this case?” wonders Tony.

**Pepper tries to pass it to him, but the car backs up and rams again, so Pepper falls back still holding it. The three of them keep shouting at each other, Pepper trying to throw the case to Tony, while Vanko damages the car.**

“It’s so chaotic, oh my god,” murmurs Tony.

“This is too much for me to handle.” Howard shakes his head.

Meanwhile, Maria talks to Pepper as if the woman could hear her. “Darling, pass him the suitcase already, please.”

**"The case, please!" barks Tony, unknowingly mimicking his mother and clapping his hands. "Come on!"**

**Pepper manages to throw it out of the car. It lands on the ground and slides to Tony, who puts his foot on the handle.**

“What are you doing?” Tony asks his future-self, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

**The briefcase opens to reveal many folded layers of red and silver. It’s a different version of the Iron Man Suit, obviously designed to be easily transported. It unfolds partly as Tony bents down and grasps two more handles. He pulls the main part of the Suit up and puts it on his chest, stretching out his arms as the gold-titanium fits itself over his arms and then the rest of his body, finishing over his head.**

“Woah.” he breathes out.

“Well, that… is quite unexpected.” his father’s voice sounds to his right. 

“You can both marvel over it after Tony is out of danger and this man is taken to prison.” Maria snaps.

**The Arc Reactor glows brightly as the Suit connects to it. The civilians still in the stands cry out and rush forward to look as Iron Man appears.**

“Are those people without brains? Run as far away from there, not stand around and watch.” Maria comments. (And honestly, Tony has to agree with her.)

**Tony kicks the car and then turns to deal with Ivan, who glares back at him. Tony stretched out his left hand to shoot at Ivan but the man swings his whip. Tony glanced down at himself in alarm, and then raises his right hand, shooting another beam at Ivan, who deflects with another swing of his whip.**

“Where is the security? Where are the police? What is happening there?” Howard asks, enraged. 

**Tony is unable to shake off the whips Ivan flung at him, so he decides to use it, curling part of the crackling steel rope around his arm.**

“No, no, no, don’t do that, dear.” sounds Maria’s alarmed voice. And Tony isn’t completely sure what he’s doing either but he trusts his future self.

**Finally, Tony grabs Ivan by the front of the harness-like half Suit and slams him down on the ground. As he lays there, Tony walks over and rips the Arc Reactor out from where it was powering the electric whips.**

All three Starks breathe a sigh of relief at that, able to calm down a little now that the fight is over. “Oh, thank god.”

**Tony looks down at the reactor as a responding team of men in black gear comes to carry the injured man away. As he’s being hauled off, he spats blood in Tony's direction and laughs. "You lose. You lose, Stark!"**

“Uh, I don’t think I did?” Tony frowns.

“He means your reputation,” Howard answers, gazing at the screen a moment longer before turning into his son’s direction. “The Senate feared that someone may create a weapon similar to your Suit, you convinced them that it’s not going to happen anytime soon, yet, here he is.” 

“Whatever, I made the suit, it’s mine, they’re not gonna get it.” Tony snarls, leaning back into the couch and finally deciding to grab one of the throw pillows and hug it to his chest. 

**Onscreen, Tony gazes after Ivan, then back at the Arc Reactor in his hand, analyzing it through his HUD. He crushes it till it fizzles out.**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screams in _chaos_ *


End file.
